Method of taking moving pictures.



B. JOHN.

7 METHOD. OF TAKING MOVING PICTURES.

nrrucmou min "I. z. 1915.

1,216,696." I Patented Feb. 20,1917.

reel for projecting ROBERT JOHN, or NEW YORK, N. Y. 1

METHOD OF TAKI ENG MOVIN G PICTURES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pateflfied Feb. 1917.

Application filed Februari' 2,1915. Serial No 5,605.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT JOHN, a citivzen of the United States, residing-at New- York city, in the borough of Manhattan and v tron. a v r This invention relates to motion photog- State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Taking Movi g Pictures, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descripraphy and. resides in a method of making reel pictures for" projection upon a screen to depict or portraythe act of drawing or sketching a pictorialrepresentation upon a surface, which will a pear to an observer. as if original lines 0 various shades and graduations were actually imparted, to a blank surface. a

During the more recent development of the motion" picture art therehas sprung up a demand for reel pictures which, when projected upon a screen, will depict an artist nthe act of making a .cartoon, or like representation. These pictureshave heretofore" been made by taking successive photographs of an artist in the act of making an originaldrawing or re resentation. This method of procedure is o jectionable as it requires the artist" to work under high nervous tension; The strain on the 'artlst results from the fact that he musttime his strokes so 'thatthey may be taken by the camera instead ofusing the natural speed at which he would ordinarily make such a drawing or representation, and fromlthe fact thathe is working under conditions which make it imperative for him to be extremely accurate \witheach of his strokes,.for if hemisplaces a. line or desires tochange the icture in any way it 1s necessary to stop t e camera and start the picture from the then completed point. ,On the part of the person obtaining the pictu re this method isex-; pensive and tedious because it necessitates the constant attendance of a motion picture camera and itsoperator while the artist is. [drawing the picture, sometimes for" a of two or three days, due to various steps and 'cut outs.. "Moreover, the completed urpo'ses must be made from the photograp s taken by leaving out tho portions of theffeel where mistakes have jheer'iirmade the artist and p lg Q- to permit him to erase a line, and then go'; bac

gether the rem ainder sons to make theaction of the arti ;t appear as if it were continuous. These objections have had the effect a of retarding tl e development of this phase restricted'to the portrayal of an artist making'sketches, s1 [ch as cartoons and the like, which show 11 erely, a simple outline and comparatively little detail.

It is the purpose of my invention to avoid these diflicultie; and to increase the S e of this phase of motion picture photograp y of the motion oicture art; indeed up to the --presentltime this branch of the art has been by utilizing a .inishedipriginal drawing or sketch as a guide or foundation from which a reel picture vnay be taken of the act of drawing or tr icing the original lines in such a way "that the deception willrnot be apparent to an observer when the picture is projected up on a screen. Any form of surface "represe tation such as a painting,

photograph, .etc hing, etc:, may therefore be used. v 1 Broadly stat ed, my improved method comprises utilizing a surface having an impresslon thereon which is visible to the naked eye if viewed at close" range and at an angle to the'surface, but is invisible to the camera. That is, if :a photograph be taken of-the same from a point in front of the surface, the film will not be afi'ected, and. when the p iotograph is projected upon the screen perfectlyblank back ound will appear. I Successive photograp s are taken of the surface as the-lines of the picture are traced )y a person standing at one side, of it, and means areemployed to ren derthe lines 01 the picture capable of -,be-

ing photograpl ed by the camera while they are-being traced. W hen a reel picture produced inthi; manner is thrown uponia screen its appearance will be identically the same as if. the lines were being originally drawn by an ar tist' instead of being'traced during the phot )graphic operation.

In carrying 01 it this eneral method prac l tically, I find Lt 'pre enable to employ a photographic print of the desired. impres sion and chemically treat the same" to.pro

duce the results above mentioned. The first step -is to make, a positive bromid enlarge-i ment of the "su bject, that 'lis, one having black lines upon awhite jectmay consist of any ground. The subfeet which .is ca pable of being photographed, and is not limited to sketches or drawings of simple" outline. The print is then bleached by 'chemical means to a uniform white color. In bleaching, however, the following should be observed: The image upon the print must be completely bleached out without destroying or injuring its capability of being recomposed; care must be exercised in selecting a bleaching solution which will not affect the gelatinous surface of the print and thereby form. a relief which is capable of being photographed and the solution whichis used to bleach the image mustbe such that when it is subjected to the light necessary to take the photographs it will not again cause the lines of tlie 'lmage to appear or recompose. vBy Qproceeding as follows,

satisfactory results may b z-obtained. The bromid positive print which has been fully developed and thoroughly fixed as well as washed and dried, is first bleached in a solution of water, mercuric chlorid and hy drochloric acid, is afterward washed in I separate solutions of water and hydrochloric acid and is then givena final bath in water, potassium bichromate and sulfuric acid, wherein it "is permitted to remain for several minutes, after which it is washed,

rinsed in clear water, and dried. The purpose of the last-bath is two-fold. When a bromid print is bleached in mercuric chlorid I there is a tendency for the lines to redevelop when subjected to the strong light neces- 85 may in photography. The solution of potassium bichromate greatly reduces this tendency, although the lines'will again be come visible to a slight extentand have a light yellow tinge. The potassium bi- 40 chromate colors the background a light yellow, which, when the plcture comes from the bath, is somewhat darker than the lines which have been bleached out.

surface is exposed to light the bleached lines 46 tend to take on a darker'yelloW tint, which is practically the same as the background. By .thus treating the print it is possible to take a photograph of the same and project it upon a screen without shbwing any lines 50 which will indicate the presence of a latent image thereon. Moreover, the projected photograph 'wil'l'ap "ear' to the observer of the picture as a per ectly blank surface, the

yellow tint of the bleached print when pro-- jected, showing as practically pure white.

In taking photographicimages of this surface the camera should be placed 'directly in front of the surface, and in this manner While the chemicals described by me have the reflected light from this surface, which "aflects the sensitive film within the camera will ,be practically uniform, and no lines will appear on'the film This is what, I re- .gardas treating agsurface to make it invisible to the camera, and I will herein- 6 5 after refer to it in this manner in the speci- When the fication and claims. The image upon the surface is still' visible to the naked eye, how-- in so doing, the stroke which an artist would make in the actual drawing of the linei The object which he usesto trace the line should be similar in shape to the brush or pencil which an artist would use,.but instead of making a. distinct and separate mark upon the paper or surface, it applies a fluid chemi calto the print which reacts with the chemia cals upon the surfaceof the print to cause the lines of the original picture to reappear.- The movements required to trace the image aresuccessively photogra, hed and it is from the photographs thus ta en that-the negative is produced from which positives may be made and projected upon the screen in. the usual manner.

In preparing the chemical which will cause the lines of the image to reappear upon the print it is necessary touse a developing so I . agent which will work instantly so that-the effect, is the same as if the object which traces the line of the-image carried-ink or some other means for -makin a visible imprint upon the surface. 'l lie developing agent must also produce-a black line so that it will form a better contrast with the white background than a brownor other colored.

one; Furthermore, the developing agent must not stain the print, for if it does the.

stain willbe seen when the picture is projectedupon the screen, which will lessen or completely destroy the deception. Lastly, the developing solution must cause" the lines of the image to reappear in approximately the same graduationas the original, so that the shade lines and other portions of thepicture will give the correct erspective. All

of these points are cared or properly if a 1 solution of ammonia -is used 1n connection .with a mercuric chlorid bleaching solution. The object which simulates the brush or pencil istherefore' charged with a solution of ammonia so that asthe object traces a line it will instantly restore the line to its original black color. i

beenfourd to be most efficacious, it is ob vious' that the invention is not limited in any manner to the use of these specific chemicals,vas I have used as a bleaching, solution potassium ferric'yanid as well as mercuric chlorid. And to cause the picture to reap- 5 which will cause a deposit of the silver in the bromid print to appear upon the surface of the print, may be used.

The accompanying drawings are illustra tive of the method as carried out in its pre' ferred form.

Figure 1 represents a black and white photographic rlnt having an image or representation t ereon;

Fig. 2 shows the same image or representation in dotted lines to indicate that in this view the same is invisible to thecamera; and

Fig. 3 shows theimage or representation partly in full and partly in dotted lines.

In the drawing, 1 designates an ordinary black and, white rint having a representation or fi re 2 t ereon, the lines of which will be lack, as shown in the drawing. This print istreated as before described, by a bleaching process, and the lines of the image are bleached out so that the same will be invisible to the camera but visible to an observer standing adjacent the print, but

to one side thereof. To cause the image to reappear the picture or print is treated with a brush 3 dipped in ammonia or the other substances mentioned, and in Fi 3 the profile of the face'is shown in full lines to indicate that it has thus been treated.

Among other advantages of my improved method of procedure may be mentioned that where a photographic print of the object is taken and treated in the manner described, it is not necessary to employ the services of a high-priced artist to trace in the picture, as the lines may be traced by an unskilled person who can to a sufficient extent simulate the strbkes which would be made by an artist. .For even if he does not accurately follow the line he is tracing, the pointof the tool or object with which he is tracing may' be made sufiiciently broad to cause the ammonia or other chemical used ;to spread over a sufficient area of the-paper to cause the line to reappear. The picture may also be outlined. or traced in a. comparatively short period of timefand since there is no chance of mistakes bein made the reel which is taken .by the motlon picture camera will be comjlete and need notbe chopped up and patc ed together in order to portray the continuous action.

While I have describedone specifie way in which my improved method may his car- .ried out, I do not wish to be limited'thereto, as-I regard my invention as contemplating and comprehending the broad idea of treating any surface representation so that it will be invisible to a camera and yet visible to.

.th'eeye' at close range, and so that it may be traced and the lines of the picture again made visible to the camera. It is my intention to be limited, therefore, only by the claims ap pended hereto.

Iclaim: a 1. In a method of'making moving pictures, the steps which'comprise treating a surface. laving an impression thereon to 'render saf d impression invisible to the camera but visible to the eye, tracing the lines of said ii 1pressi0n and simultaneously rendering the lines visible to the camera, and taking successive photographs of the surface during the tracing movements.

2. In a method of making moving pictures, the stepswhich comprise utilizing a surface htving an impression thereon visi-- ble to th camera, treating said surface to render said impression invisible to the camera but v sible to the eye, tracing the lines of the impression on said" surface while simultaneolsly rendering (them visible to the camera, and taking successive photographs of the st rface during the tracing move-' ments. 7 p

3. In a method of making moving pictures, the steps vhich comprise utilizing a surface having an impression thereon visible to the camera, chemically treatin said surface to render said impression inv sible to the camera, but visible to the eye, tracing the lines .of the in pression on said surface with a chemical :blutlon .to render them visible to the camera, and taking successive photographs oi the surface during the tracing movements.

4. In a method of making moving pictures, the steps which comprise subjecting a photogi aphic print of any desired subject to a t; eatment to render the lines there of invisible to the camera but visible to the eye, tracing the lines of the image on said,

print anc simultaneously rendering the lines visibleto the camera, and taking suc- 'cessive ph )tographs of the print during the tracing mJveme'nts. I

'5. 'In' a method of making moving' pictures, the steps which comprise bleaching g a photographic print of any desired subject to reader the image thereon invisible to a came ca but visible to the eye, tracing the lines of the image and simultaneously redevelopi 11g them, and taking successive photographs of the print during the tracing movement: 1. p

6. In a method of making moving pictures, the steps which comprise bleachin a photograp hic print. of any desired sub ect to render the lmage thereon invisible to a camera but visible to the eye, treating said print to cluse said image tqremain unaffected by photographic light, tracing the lines of 't] 1e image and simultaneously redeveloping them, and taking successive photographs of the print during thetracing movement: I.

7. The method of making motion pictures to portray the operation of maklng drawings, pictures, or the like which consists in first producing the drawing, then causing the lines of the same to become invisible to the camera, then causing the lines to become visible'to' the camera by successive separate strokes similar to those natinga drawing, then causing the lines thereof to become invisible to the camera by bleaching the same with a chemical, then making separate succesive strokes thereon with a brush saturated in a solution of aqua ammonia and-simultaneously taking reel pictures of the successive strokes.

In witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

- ROBERT JOHN.

Witnesses;

WALDO M. CHAP1N, JnLn ZELENKO. 

